Tesco apologises for selling horror movie colouring book to children

The colouring book, featuring images taken from films such as Psycho, has been withdrawn from sale by Tesco (Picture: Raymonds Press Partnership)

We’ve heard of colour by numbers and join the dots books for children, but not ones where they have to colour in blood-spattered serial killers.

Colour Me Good Arrggghhhh! features line drawings of scenes from 18-rated films such as The Shining, Hellraiser, Silence of the Lambs and A Clockwork Orange, as well as from Psycho and A Nightmare On Elm Street.

The book was listed on the Tesco website as suitable for five to eight-year-olds despite containing ‘really scary stuff’ and ‘more blood than you can shake a dagger at’.

Chris Tuckwood, 56, Spondon, Derby, stumbled across the book while looking for a birthday present for his seven-year-old grandson, Reece.

‘It was advertised as being suitable for kids from five to eight – I don’t think so,’ Mr Tuckwood said.

‘It is unbelievable that they can sell such a thing aimed at kids. I don’t think I have to say why it’s unsuitable, that much is obvious.

‘Who on earth are they employing that thinks this is OK?’

The book, featuring scenes from Jaws, was marketed as suitable for children as young as five (Picture: Raymonds Press Partnership)

Tesco said the book, which has now been withdrawn from sale, had been placed on its website by a third party retailer.

‘We have very clear guidelines for third-party sellers who list items on our website, and are sorry that on this occasion they weren’t followed,’ a spokesman said.

‘We will be speaking with the seller to remind them of the importance of selecting the right category when listing products with us.’

But Mel Elliott, who runs publisher I Love Mel, commented: ‘The front cover of Colour Me Good Arrggghhhh! features a drawing from the horror movie, Psycho in which a woman is stabbed to death in the shower.

‘I believe that this one image is a fairly large clue that this is not a book aimed at children.’

Third party retailer Prezzybox.com managing director Zak Edwards acknowledged the book ‘isn’t suitable for children’.

‘This mistake came to light in the national press, who rightly picked up upon this error. We apologise for this mistake and will work hard to ensure this doesn’t happen again.’